This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act provided a framework for political equality that included the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Few may recall that Montana’s own Mike Mansfield played a critical role in passage of this historic legislation.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, or national origin by government agencies that receive federal funds (Title VI) and in all places of public accommodation — including courthouses, parks, restaurants, theaters, sports arenas and hotels. It outlawed employment discrimination and established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure fair employment practices.

Fulfilling the promise of Brown v Board of Education, the act authorized the Department of Education to assist with school desegregation and permitted the U.S. attorney general to file lawsuits to desegregate schools. The act also prohibited the unequal application of voting requirements, established the Community Relations Services, and gave enhanced authority to the Commission of Civil Rights. Passage of the act ended the application of “Jim Crow” laws which had been upheld by the United States Supreme Court in Plessy v Ferguson. In that 1896 case, the court held that racial segregation purporting to be “separate but equal” was constitutional.

During the summer of 1963, the House Judiciary Committee held hearings on the proposed civil rights legislation. Two days before President Kennedy was assassinated, the committee formally reported the bill to the full House, and on Feb. 10, 1964, the House voted in favor of and passed a final version of the Civil Rights Act. Then it was up to the Senate.

Mansfield, then Senate majority leader, shepherded the Civil Rights Act through the Senate. Mansfield filed a procedural motion to prevent the senators opposed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from referring the Act to the Senate Judiciary Committee to die. Mansfield strategically placed the bill directly on the Senate calendar, and on March 9, 1964, moved to take up the measure. Southern senators launched a filibuster against the bill that lasted 60 days, including seven Saturdays. The stalemate ended when Republican Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois gained key votes from Republican colleagues with a powerful speech calling racial integration “an idea whose time has come.”

On July 2, 1964, the Senate passed the most sweeping civil rights legislation in the nation’s history. President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill into law that afternoon. The signing of the bill into law was nationally televised and the president was joined by civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been instrumental in leading the public mobilization efforts.

The act remains one the most momentous pieces of legislation in American history. In Montana, the Voting Rights Act has been used to protect the rights of Indian voters. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division recently supported Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Fort Belknap tribal members in their successful efforts to ensure Indian voters have access to satellite voting offices on remote Indian reservations.

Montana has every reason to be proud of Mansfield’s critical role in making the Civil Rights Act a reality. As we move forward into the next 50 years, protecting the fundamental right to vote of every eligible citizen will remain one of the highest priorities of the United States Department of Justice.

Michael W. Cotter is the U.S. Attorney for Montana. Much of the content included here is taken from materials provided by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and Landmark Legislation.